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I feel that this is becoming a standard narrative. SV company comes up with an idea, decides harvesting lots of user data is how they will monetize. VCs pump in
by throwaway292939 8y ago
I feel that this is becoming a standard narrative. SV company comes up with an idea, decides harvesting lots of user data is how they will monetize. VCs pump in a lot of money and expect their returns, so company is now forced to collect even more data aggressively (the sign-in wall that many others have pointed out is an example of this). VC pressure causes company to "innovate" fast, most likely trading off security for new features in the meantime. As this progresses and they become more valuable, they are then targeted by hackers, which causes some type of compromise of users' data.
Quora is an intimate medium — tied to real names, real and often deep interests. It's especially bad that this happened.
There needs to be a better way to realign incentives in this ecosystem, otherwise this story will repeat.
- ttty2 8y agoI'm still amazed to this day that people give real names to their online accounts. I'd never put my real name anywhere online. It works quite well for me and if my data is leaked, I'm still ok. Probably I should use more email accounts to don't be linked, but it's fine anyway.
- pmart123 8y agoI think the success of Facebook and Google (being ad businesses) had a lot to do with this, i.e. "you are the product." If the trend to subscription businesses continues, do you think investors will approach how a company should scale differently?